Daybook Entries
In this section there will be Daybook Entries. Daybooks are journal entries we complete about specific topics we discuss in class. In a daybook, we also take notes or jot down important things that should be remembered. Daybooks are great to have because they allow you to go back and look at things you have learned about or important things you need to study or refer back to.
A Learning Moment
For this assignment, we were shown an ad for Hardee's. This ad had a very good looking woman on the front, sitting on the hood of a car, enjoying one of Hardee's burgers. We annotated the ad and talked about it as a class. Then we were asked to write a summary of what we had done and talked about. I wrote that the ad had a sexual setting, because of the background and the way the woman appeared on the front. I thought maybe this ad would get the attention of men because of what was displayed. We also talked about, and I wrote about how Hardee's may be trying to convey the message that you can still eat food like this, and still look good. Annotating this ad helped me to better understand what message a company is sending by their advertisement.
Another Learning Moment
To the left is a picture of different ways to brainstorm. There are five techniques: clustering, listing, the five W's, focused freewriting and directed writing. In this homework assignment, we were told to use each of the different techniques to brainstorm writing experiences. For the clustering technique wrote about the word "literate". For listing, I wrote about my positive ready moments. I used the five W's to brainstorm my negative reading moments. I used the focused freewriting technique to write about a positive speaking moment. Then finally, I used the direct writing technique to write about a negative speaking moment. This homework assignment helped me to better plan and brainstorm for writing papers. It helped me to decide which techniques work best for me when writing. I found that the using the five W's and the clustering technique were easier and worked best for me when writing my first paper in this English 111 class.
Peer Editing
In this picture, there is an example of some peer editing I did. Peer editing is when you read over someone's paper or assignment and you critque it. When peer editing, you are helping them and making corrections to their paper. You making suggestions on how they can improve their paper and hopefully this will help them in the future with writing. Peer editing not only helps the person to which you are peer editing, but also helps you because by reading someone else's paper you can get ideas on how to help you when you're writing. Peer editing helped me because the feedback I received from my partners helped me in other papers and helped me to become a better writer.
MLA Format
In this picture to the left is an example of a paper that is in MLA Format. MLA stands for Modern Language Association. Many people use this writing style in schools, as it is becoming quite popular. With MLA Format there are guidelines one has to go by when using it. The entire paper has to be in Times New Roman font with size 12 letters. There has to be a header at the top of every page containing the writer's last name and page number. All margins should be 1 inch and the entire document should be doble spaced. MLA also requires a works cited page at the end of the document. This is the last page of your document, but also should be on a separate page from everything else. The works cited page is where you cite your sources that you used throughout the paper.
Visit to the Writing Center
This picture is showing a paper I took to the writing center on campus to review and edit my paper. This is kind of like a peer edit. In the writing center, there are people who are very good at writing, that take time to look over and make corrections to people's papers. With my visit to the writing center, my editor gave me just an overall edit. There wasn't anything really specific I needed help on, so she reviewed the entire paper. This visit helped me because I was told to put more examples in my paper and do a little less repeatting, which is something I have a hard time with sometimes. The editor telling me what kind of examples to put in my paper and how to stop repeatting myself helped me and will help me in the future when I am writing.
APA Format
This picture is an essay I completed that is APA formatted. APA stands for American Psychological Association. APA is a little different and more in depth than MLA. With APA formatting you have to have a title page. This title page should contain the title of the writer's paper, the writer's first and last name, and the school the writer is attending. There should also be a header on the top of every page containing the title of the document in all caps left aligned and the page number. The entire doument should be in Times New Roman font and 12 size letters. The paper should also be double spaced. APA also requires a work cited, but it is a little different than the MLA works cited. Instead of being called a "Works Cited" it is called "References", but this serves the same purpose as a works cited.